Monday, August 17, 2009

Blunt: Co-Op Ill-Defined

"You can only handle so many problems at a time"

Congressman Roy Blunt recently said that a co-op health care reform plan was too "ill-defined" for him to be able to render a judgement on. The Republican candidate for U.S. Senate also defended GOP efforts on healthcare during the period of time his party controlled both parties in Congress and the White House.

Today, several groups on the right equated co-ops with government run healthcare. Liberal groups demanded a public option be included. Here's some help with the differences.

Asked why the Republican Congress didn't tackle the thorny issue of increasing coverage while in power, Blunt said the GOP's focus was on adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare that he acknowledged was not paid for.

*WATCH CLIP ABOVE*

Also notes the GOP-lead House passed lawsuit abuse reform and associated health plans, both designed to lower costs.

In the above clip, Blunt said he could "certainly support a plan that creates access to everybody for coverage that they can afford."

Makes no commitment on co-op and states he would not have voted to confirm Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.

For more of a breakdown on the public option versus a co-op, head to The Atlantic.

ALSO: DEMS JUMP ON BLUNT "DEATH PANEL" ANSWER

When asked during a radio interview on KTRS about so-called "death panels," Blunt said "it's easy for that debate to go either way."

FULL BACK & FORTH BELOW:

KTRS: "There's one part of the country -- Democrats - that are saying "There's no such things as these 'death panels' in the bills." And Sarah Palin and Chuck Grassley, Senator Chuck Grassley, last night said, "There is." How do you see it? Do you see these death panels in this legislation?

BLUNT: "No, you know, I see Medicare paying for consultations about end-of-life issues. I think it's easy for that debate to go either way. You know, when they start talking about doing this every five years, then you do begin to wonder, now, just how committed is the federal government to being sure that that decision's already been made by you well before you and your family face it."